Georgia: Prison torture video sparks anti-goverment protests

last updated Sep 19, 2012

Video footage showing police guards torturing detainees was aired on national television and has sparked anti-government protests in Georgia. The video shows uniformed officers at a jail in Tibilisi apparently raping and brutally torturing several detainees.

President Mikheil Saakashvili has condemned the cruel actions and promised to punish the responsible guards. He also believes that the guards were paid to stage the abuse. According to the prosecutorís office, ten persons have been arrested including the head of Tibilisi prison. The prisons minister immediately resigned.

Georgia, a country repeatedly criticised for human rights abuses and poor conditions of detention, will hold presidential elections on 1 October. In 2005, the United Nations Special Rapporteur of Torture conducted a fact-finding mission. His report and the follow-up reports can be found here